Over his long run as Luke Spencer on ABC's last surviving weekday serial, which marks its 50th anniversary in April, the actor often has seen his character reinvented ... hero at times, antihero at others. Luke's legendary 1981 wedding to Laura Spencer (former cast member
Genie Francis) attests to that, as do Geary's record seven Daytime Emmy wins as outstanding lead actor in a drama series.

"If it's not on the page, it's not going to happen," he tells
Zap2it, "so if you've got a good script, something that's well-motivated that really explores the character deeply, you can see that there's a possibility that it's going to be good."

Geary's most recent Daytime Emmy came in June, and he was visibly and somewhat surprisingly emotional in his acceptance speech. "I think we were all pretty emotional," he reflects, "to get 24 nominations when we were so shaky about a year ago. We'd been living on death row, so I think we were all pretty thrilled and excited -- and a bit emotional -- about being acknowledged for the hard work."

Also noted over the years has been the "General Hospital" opening credit sequence that gathers the show's male stars, with Geary ultimately walking out of the shot.

"That wasn't planned at all," he says. "I'd just sort of stood up and walked off, and [the producers] loved it. I can flip into 'Luke Spencer,' and I'm sure any of us can flip into our 'characters' at a moment's notice. I know how he feels, and when I'm threatened or uncomfortable, he takes over. And he just took over and said, 'I've had enough.' "